Marvel Planning Some Low Budget Action

You've met the X-Men, you love The Incredible Hulk, and you just can't seem to get enough of that red and gold Iron Man. But what about Ant Man, Dazzler, Cable, or Abraxas? The ungodly amount of lesser known Marvel heroes and villains have been overshadowed by their blockbuster big brothers, until now.

CHUD has it that the comic powerhouse is working on big plans to make little movies about these smaller-time characters. The films, since they won't be pulling quite as large of an audience, will only be budgeted $20 to $40 million each, at least $100 million less than budgets on films like Wolverine. Not only will this bring sidelined characters into the public eye, but with less money involved, up and coming actors and directors will have an easier chance to break into the enormous universe that is Marvel.

The one thing CHUD seemed to forget about is that with a tinier budget, the films will be less focused on action and thusly more focused on the one thing movies like Wolverine and Spider-Man 3 seem to neglect: character. It's easy to make a $150 million dollar movie blow up real good, but the real story is in the characters, and that's a focus that everyone but Jon Favreau, Matthew Vaughn and Louis Letterier seem to have forgotten. These lower budgets will force down the effects budget and make room for script writers who can actually make a believable character out of something unbelievable. There's a seemingly endless library of stories in the Marvel library; this initiative will help get those made in hopefully a more impressive fashion than what Fox and Sony have been doing.

For a comparison, look at what District 9 did for a mere $30 million versus what G.I. Joe did for $145 million more than that. Making great movies isn't about having a lot of money, it's about having someone behind the camera who knows how to tell a story and make us fall in love with characters along the way. Marvel hasn't announced which superhero or villain they're going to take on first, but we'll keep our eyes open for any news that will whet your little comic nerd appetite.

All you comic pros sound off in the comments below and argue about which characters you'd like to see and why.